Cal UAS approaches final deadline

Even as one final deadline required by the Federal Aviation Administration to submit a final volume approaches to be considered a test and research site for unmanned aircraft systems, Cal UAS Portal's project manager is keeping busy.

Even as one final deadline required by the Federal Aviation Administration to submit a final volume approaches to be considered a test and research site for unmanned aircraft systems, Cal UAS Portal's project manager is keeping busy.

Eileen Shibley, the Inyokern-based team's leader, is finding doors open to her for a variety of meetings to explain the versatility of unmanned systems in various civilian and private industries and advocate why Inyokern and the Mojave Desert are right choice to be considered a test site.

“We are doing really well with the project proposal,” Shibley said Tuesday by phone.

Her team has already sent off Volume 3 of the proposal required for the FAA's request for proposal, on its April 11 deadline and was working on Volume 7 for its May 6 deadline.

Volume 3 included the research, airspace and ground infrastructure components of the RFP, detailing what the Inyokern team has available.

Volume 7 is the economic impact analysis portion of the RFP, detailing what might benefit from the impact should Cal UAS Portal receive the test designation. Shibley said her team is currently working furiously on that portion.

“After that, the next step is to wait for a phone call from the FAA for a site visit,” Shibley said.

In the meantime, meetings have been scheduled on her behalf with some of the region's industry leaders and policy advocates.

Shibley said Vice Mayor Chip Holloway scheduled interviews to give a presentation to a group from the League of California Cities at the China Lake Museum later this week, while First District Supervisor Mick Gleason's office is arranging meetings with the county's agricultural and oil industry leaders.

“One of the biggest applications for unmanned systems is in the agricultural industry,” Shibley said.

She said with manned crop dusting planes, there was always a valid concern with crop overspray and not wanting chemicals and pesticides to land on the wrong crops.

Additionally, smaller unmanned aircraft vehicles could go through various smaller crops to look for blighted areas.

The business applications are just the beginning, Shibley said.

It's an approach that Patrick Egan, a consultant in the UAS industry and Executive Producer of UAS News's Podcast series, agrees with.

“I can walk down the street and see potential jobs,” Egan said by phone Wednesday. “I definitely see six-figure incomes coming from this industry.”

He held agriculture and utilities as examples of what unmanned aircraft could do.

“Small crops would benefit from unmanned systems because they can be very labor-intensive and expensive for owners,” Egan said.

For utilities and other areas, it could also provide a boon when it comes to surveying pipelines and power lines.

However, he stressed that California needed to pick up the slack when it came to getting on board with the UAS initiative, compared to other states that were throwing financial support behind its UAS site proposal teams.

“I think this is a smart thing if California wants it, but it needs to be serious,” Egan said. “If California wants to be a serious contender in this effort, we need money.”

Currently, California has two major teams vying for a FAA test and research site: Cal UAS in Inyokern and a Ventura County-based effort.

The Ventura team has the backing of its county and political support from Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, while Inyokern received political support from Congressman Kevin McCarthy, state Sen. Jean Fuller and Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, along with support from the full Kern County Board of Supervisors.

Egan said an approach similar to federal projects like building a dam or major bridges should be taken by forming partnerships at various levels of government and private industries.